If you are familiar with the story of Lord Krishna, then you would know that he was born in Mathura, spent his childhood in Vrindavana, and then ruled from Dwarka, all in the northern part of India. Then how, you might ask, did Sri Krishna land in Udupi which is in South India? Well, for that, let us take you back to the life of Lord Krishna.
Owing to her imprisonment by Kamsa, Lord Krishna’s birth mother, Devaki, could not experience the childhood of Lord Krishna. In Dwarka, she expressed her desire to see the Lord as a child and Krishna took the form of a child again for some time. He played with her and performed his childhood antics, including stealing butter. The entire episode was witnessed by Krishna’s wife, Rukmini, who fell in love with his child form (called Balakrishna).
Rukmini commissioned Vishwakarma, the renowned celestial architect to make an idol of Balakrishna, who created a beautiful idol using saligrama stone. This idol was worshipped by Rukmini every day, and when Lord Krishna left this world on the successful completion of the purpose of his incarnation, Arjuna buried this statue of Balakrishna in Rukmini Vana (Rukmini’s forest). The place and the statue were later lost in the flood that engulfed Dwarka.
Later in the 13th century, a ship headed from Dwarka got caught in a storm. The sage, Anandatirtha, later known as Madhwacharya, chanced to be on the shores of Udupi and witnessed the ship in trouble. He guided the ship to safety and towards the coast by using his angavastram to signal it. As a gesture of gratitude, the Captain asked the sage to take anything he wanted from the ship. The sage, disregarding the precious cargo, instead chose the rocky ballast made of gopichandana as his gift.
As the rock was being transported, it chipped off in a few places revealing the saligrama idol of Balakrishna. Anandatirtha scooped up the idol, bathed it and then installed according to sacred consecrating rituals, in what is today known as the Udupi Krishna Matha.
Fast forward to the 20th century, where a poor Brahmin boy born in Udyavara in Udupi, who was an ardent devotee of Udupi Krishna, in search of better prospects, moved to Alappuzha in Kerala to assist his brother-in-law in his restaurant. This enterprising boy, Bhima Bhattar, settled in Alappuzha ,his love and devotion for Udupi Krishna undiminished, and by whose divine grace, he married Vanaja and set up his family in this town he now called home. Bhima Bhattar’s uncanny business sense led him to start off a business of Silver articles, with his wife’s silver anklets as seed capital, and his honesty and straightforward business practices led to what is today Bhima’s golden legacy.
Bhima Bhattar strongly believed in sharing his wealth with the less fortunate in society, and in the course of his lifetime set up multiple scholarships, pensions, charities, medical assistance, donations and endowments. He later wished to gift to the people of Alappuzha, what he believed was the ultimate source of his good fortune - Udupi Krishna.
Thus was laid the foundation of the Udupi Krishna Temple in Thondankulangara, Alappuzha.